


Dog's Best Friend

by rabidchild67



Series: The Satchmo Cycle [3]
Category: White Collar
Genre: Dog(s), Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-25
Updated: 2012-11-25
Packaged: 2017-11-19 12:11:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/573133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rabidchild67/pseuds/rabidchild67
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Satchmo loves Mozzie. Mozzie is indifferent.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dog's Best Friend

Satchmo loves a lot of things. He loves Honey and Sweetie, and he loves when Mr. Neal takes him swimming, and of course, he loves The Ball. But the person he loves the best, the one who needs him most, does not love him back.

Honey and Sweetie have gone, and Satchmo lays on his pillow, dozing. He hears keys in the lock and lifts his head. It is Mr. Neal. Satchmo wags and wags. “Hey, Satch! How are ya, buddy?” He comes into the house and behind him is The Mouse. 

Satchmo’s love for The Mouse is deep and abiding. Whenever he visits Sweetie and brings bottles of wine, Satchmo sits on his feet and squirms happily. Satch follows The Mouse everywhere, sometimes with The Ball in his mouth so they can play, but The Mouse ignores Satch. It makes Satch confused, but he still loves The Mouse.

“Hello, Dog Suit,” The Mouse says when he comes through the door.  
  
Satchmo dances on his front paws and whines, “ _Happy!_ ” but The Mouse walks into the house without letting Satchmo sniff his butt. “Tell me why we’re here with this creature again?” he says to Mr. Neal.

“Because Peter said I could borrow the Taurus while he and El are on vacation if I’d watch after Satchmo. And if you want to go to that farm stand you like so much down in Jersey, we’ve got to pick up the car _and_ the dog.”

“Fine. Let’s get this show on the road, then.”

Satchmo gets The Ball and leaves to it at The Mouse’s feet. “ _Play!”_

“Hey, Neal, don’t forget that,” he says, pointing at The Ball, and continues rifling through Honey’s CD collection.

Satch stays with The Mouse while Mr. Neal collects his things and loads up the car. He keeps his head at The Mouse’s knee, so he can lick his hand whenever it falls to his side. The Mouse needs to know that Satchmo is there if he needs him.

“Ready?” says Mr. Neal, and they get into the car and drive.

They drive for a long time. Satchmo rests his head on the back of The Mouse’s seat so that he knows he iss there. It is _important_ for The Mouse to know.

 Finally the car stops and Mr. Neal lets Satch out. Satch runs around and around, but The Mouse does not chase him. He trots back to The Mouse and barks. “ _Run! Come and run!”_ Satch knows that if The Mouse would run with him he would love him.

“Come here, Satch.” Mr. Neal calls. “Let’s put on your leash.” But Satchmo sits down at The Mouse’s feet and looks up at him. “Looks like he wants you, Moz,” Mr. Neal says, walking over and attaching the leash to Satch’s collar.

“Do you think they have white corn?” The Mouse says and walks over to the farmer. Satchmo pulls Mr. Neal along so he can keep up with him.

When they are done, they get back in the car and drive back to the city. Satchmo wishes they could’ve stayed longer; he thought he smelled bunnies nearby and that The Mouse might like to chase them too. The drive is long so Satch curls up on the back seat to sleep. When he wakes, they are at Bugsy’s house, but he and June aren’t home. Satch likes Bugsy’s house because the treats are pieces of chicken and cheese, not carrots.

Mr. Neal makes steaks for supper and puts some of the leftovers into Satchmo’s dish. Then he and The Mouse sit on the couch and drink wine and talk until it is late. Satchmo lays on top of The Mouse’s shoes until he falls asleep.

Later on, Satchmo wakes up thirsty and gets a drink of water from the bowl in the kitchen. The Mouse is lying on the couch, sleeping, and Mr. Neal is in the bed. Satch goes over and nudges his head under The Mouse’s hand so he will pet him.

“Hey,” The Mouse says. Satch wags when he sees he is awake, and snorfles into his hand. The Mouse scratches him lazily behind his ear. “You’re a good dog, aren’t you?” The Mouse sits up and Satch puts his head in his lap. The Mouse strokes Satch’s head and looks into his eyes. Satch sighs.

“I had a dog just like you when I was a kid,” The Mouse says, his voice soft. “His name was Jasper and I loved him more than anything. But they sent me away to foster care and he had to go to the pound. I never saw him again.” Satchmo puts his front paws on the couch and licks The Mouse's face. The Mouse kisses him on the head and then buries his face in his fur. He takes a deep breath. “How would you like to go for a walk, Satchmo?”

Satchmo jumps down and trots between the door and the couch. “ _Walk!”_

Satchmo is happy because he is going for a walk. He is happy because he likes to be at Bugsy’s house, even if Honey and Sweetie aren’t. But mostly he is happy because now The Mouse can love him back.

\----

Thank you for your time.

**Author's Note:**

> Eep - just realized Mr. Neal must be driving waaaay outside his radius, so we'll just assume we're post-anklet here. Yeah, that's right... *shifty eyes*


End file.
